Former Nashville officer gets 9 years for child porn

Sep. 23, 2013

Written by

Samantha Hearn

The Tennessean

William J. Patterson

A former Metro police officer was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Nashville on Monday to nine years in federal prison for receipt and possession of child pornography.

William Patterson, 42, of Hermitage was arrested in September 2012 after police received a report of domestic violence, drug use and child pornography at his home.

Patterson refused consent to a search of his home, but with a warrant Metro police computer forensic analysts found 7,300 images and 300 videos of child pornography on Patterson’s personal computer. Officers found several girls’ bras and underwear in Patterson’s home as well and later confirmed that they belonged to a former relative when she was a minor.

His collection of porn depicted sexual exploitation of very young girls. Officers also found child pornography on Patterson’s cellphone.

“I don’t have words to express the remorse I’ve went through,” Patterson said in court. “I’ve lost the trust of society, and I will forever regret that. I want to put this part of my life behind me.”

U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp also ordered Patterson to serve 10 years of supervised probation after his prison sentence is complete.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Dumaka Shabazz said in court that Patterson, who has two sons, was “showing a genuine remorse for being in this entire situation.”

Patterson has no prior criminal history and will undergo sexual offender treatment and testing in addition to registering as a sex offender upon his release.

Patterson was an officer for Metro police from 1995 to 2006. He resigned after he was investigated for misusing a police computer to perform background checks on a woman employed by his brother-in-law.

Samantha Hearn is a reporter for the Seigenthaler News Service-MTSU. She can be reached at shearn2.SH@gmail.com.